


you're the universe, i'm helpless

by antarcticas



Series: zutara arranged marriage aus [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Drabble Collection, F/M, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, Loving Marriage, Mutual Pining, No War AU, POV Katara (Avatar), POV Zuko (Avatar), Pregnancy, Steambaby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:40:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25280269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antarcticas/pseuds/antarcticas
Summary: He’s growing dizzier so he falls into his seat, the crass look on his face repelling his sycophants. Why is she so perfect? It’s not alright for anyone to be this faultless, to look like the stars and walk like water. She has his heart in the palm of her hand and she doesn’t even know it, and the thought of that makes him want to laugh. She’s a healer, too, and all he has ever done is cause destruction. That’s his legacy. He’s a ruler of fear.[A no war/arranged marriage Zutara drabble collection]
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: zutara arranged marriage aus [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831498
Comments: 23
Kudos: 203





	1. Chapter 1

She hasn’t spoken to him. He clutches his goblet and drains the rest of it, ignoring the way it starts to hit his head, spinning it around his fingers in a way that would make his etiquette teachers scream. He’s the Fire Lord. He bows to nobody.

_I would bow to you,_ he thinks as he sees her in his clouding peripheral image. She’s with Ty Lee and they’re both wearing large smiles as they converse about something probably totally inane. He traces her lips, red and drawn as they are, and wants to crush the glass in his grasp, but that would be unforgivable.

_I’ve done terrible things and I do not deserve this. So why do I want this?_

It would be too kind for the spirits to let him wallow in his self-made misery. They gave him the curse of wanting something out of his reach, a girl who looks like an ocean, like everything he can never have. And she’s to be his wife and that makes it worse. Perhaps he should have chosen one of the Earth Kingdom girls. He would have escaped this torture.

He doesn’t let the thought loiter in his mind — no, no. He might not have Katara the way he wants to but he wouldn’t trade what he has with her for anything. He would live the rest of his life out at her feet if she asked him to. If she ever spoke to him. He sighs. Her presence is enough, the kind way she moves, the friendliness in her eyes towards everyone. There had been rumors at first that the nation would not be accepting of a foreign Fire Lady but she had stepped into the role with grace, fulfilling her duties, loved by her people, staying a master bender.

He’s growing dizzier so he falls into his seat, the crass look on his face repelling his sycophants. Why is she so perfect? It’s not alright for anyone to be this faultless, to look like the stars and walk like water. She has his heart in the palm of her hand and she doesn’t even know it, and the thought of that makes him want to laugh. She’s a healer, too, and all he has ever done is cause destruction. That’s his legacy. He’s a ruler of fear.

Zuko turns his watery vision back to where one of Ty Lee’s sisters has joined them, and he lets an uncharacteristic smile flit across his face as he sees the other two laughing with her, probably at some quick-witted joke. Then he brings his hand and the goblet under the desk and crushes it until it breaks. His hand bleeds a little as he brings it up but it smears right into his robes. 

With a low gesture to one of his ministers, he leaves as quietly as he can, although the five-pronged crown in his hair isn’t exactly inconspicuous. Part of him wants to see if she’s looking at his exit and part of him tells him not to have hope. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my name is dee and my one (1) brain cell has a serious zutara obsession and I love this trope so I'm going to contain myself to drabbles
> 
> this is a bit of a continuation of 'teach me the courage of the infinite', which is on my profile and an arranged marriage au that you should read!
> 
> . . . but if you don't want to basically this is a no war au, zuko accidentally killed ozai and feels terrible about it and is fire lord, iroh still loves him, katara and he have an arranged marriage and sokka gets overprotective of her and zutara doesn't talk for like half a year before they realize that they're willing to give it a chance so yeah thanks for jumping into the burning dumpster with me <3 title from venus by sleeping at last which is my favorite song ever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A training session!

“He’s pining after you,” Ty Lee says, and Mai nods from where she’s throwing knives in the back of the training room. Katara raises her hand and a wall of ice blocks the thin needle from severing Ty Lee’s braid. The pink-cheeked girl sticks out her tongue at her best friend.

“He’s not. He won’t even talk to me.”

“Maybe,” Mai knocks down all the targets on the other side of the room before falling down and putting a hand on her head, “it’s because he thinks you hate him?”

Katara sighs. “What could I have done to make him think that? We just . . . don’t speak.”

Ty Lee shrugs. “Zuko’s weak.”

She raises her eyebrow. “Doesn’t saying that count as treason?”

“Er, no. I’ve known him since he used to chase Azula around, I get rights. But I don’t mean, like physically. I know he’s your betrothed but we can all acknowledge that he’s hot — stop blushing, it’s the truth — but I mean, like, mentally. He thinks that everyone hates him.”

Katara raises her hand and water flows over the three of them panting on the ground in the warm Fire Nation spring, the humidity stifling. “Why, though?”

“Well,” Mai deadpans, “he killed his father in front of the entire court. Of course they’re a  _ little  _ terrified of him.”

She lets the water drop. “I don’t really think . . . about that. It’s hard to believe that he’s killed someone, least of all his father.”

“It was an accident,” Mai shrugs, and the other two zero in on her.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s called observation. Zuko’s never had the best control on his fire — he had power, you know, but never control like Azula, that’s why her flames were blue. There is no way he purposefully killed the man, no matter how abusive he was. Zuko just . . . wouldn’t do that. He’s much more softhearted than most people, definitely more than me.”

“That’s not an accomplishment,” Ty Lee notes, and Mai shrugs before letting a tiny hint of a smile cross her cheeks. Katara, meanwhile, gazes into the window with a distant look on her face. 

“I’m not scared of him,” she repeats.

“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself.”

“It’s just —  _ ugh.  _ He’s not terrifying at all but then I hear these stories . . . I don’t know. He’s almost respectful.”

“Yeah, because he thinks he’s honoring your wishes by not talking to you.”

“I don’t get this, I don’t understand any of this,” she groans.

“Look, Katara,” Ty Lee reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder. “Zuko chose you as a wife even when the smart move would have been someone from the Northern Water Tribe or the Earth Kingdom, sorry to say. He chose you for a reason, and it wasn’t sea prune exports. Those things are disgusting.”

“He did? Choose me?”

“Well, at first I think it was out of spite, but Iroh tells me he was utterly  _ smitten  _ with the portrait he took home from the peace talks. I think the Fire Lord might have a crush on you.”

Mai snorts. “I do too. I haven’t seen Zuko like this since we were both nine and thought we were in love. And this is exponentially worse. Put the guy out of his misery.”

“What do I do? Talk to him?”

They both utter, “Yes!” in tandem, and she sighs and faceplants.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steambaby *happy noises*

“He’s awake,” she says as the baby starts crying, and Zuko rubs his eyes and refrains from saying that she’s stating the obvious because he loves her and he doesn’t want to bother her; it’s been a few weeks but she was just cleared to be allowed out of bed. Even her healing didn’t aid with her childbirth.

“I’ve got him,” he steps out of bed and goes to the little crib that Kazou sleeps in, smoothing his hand over his child’s hair before picking him up and cradling him to his chest. Katara groans over from the sheets and when he looks she’s making a beckoning motion.

“You should sleep, Katara.”

“I’ll be fine,” she responds. “You, on the other hand, still have duties to get to in the morning.”

He winces at the thought. Traditionally his child would have been looked after immediately by wet nurses and a few servants after his birth, leaving the Fire Lord and Lady to slowly recuperate before returning to their normal duties, but Katara had hated the idea and he can’t deny her anything. She’d given birth in their room and Kazou has been sleeping with them; she intends for him to stay with them until he’s old enough to have his own space and weaned.

Zuko actually does like the sentiment. It reminds him of why he loves her and her fierce spirit and defense of her family, and he can’t imagine not sleeping with his son. He wants to spend every moment he can with the little one in his arms. He is not his father. It does get a little tiring with his work, however. Katara’s duties can be done by others but his cannot.

Kazou’s cries fade but his eyes are wide awake. Zuko can see the sun rising a little on the horizon and slides back into bed. Katara has a few hours to wake, sleeping as late as she does, but he will be up to meditate in an hour anyway. He can give up another hour to stare at his son. He smiles softly as he slides him underneath his silk sheets, between him and his wife, and Katara lets out a little breath of air as her eyes shine at her son.

He loves her so much. Both their fingers trace the outlines of their son’s face — he’s given up crying and his signs of hunger to start giggling and does so more at their light touches. Katara moves her fingers to his stomach and he bursts out further into laughter, his eyes — still an indecipherable gray — and mouth opening wide, letting out little toothless bursts of air. 

“He looks so much like you,” she says with a smile, and Zuko looks at the little boy chortling between them. 

“I don’t . . . laugh that much.”

“No, you’re too serious,” she teases before reaching out another hand to trace his scar. “But when you’re not — like right now, when you’re smiling with your mouth open — you look just like him. He’s his father’s son,” she pauses, “in the right way.”

He isn’t ready to have this conversation so he reaches out to bury his head in Kazou’s stomach and blow, and the giggles grow louder. Katara notices the diversion but just strokes her hand through his hair. “My happy boys,” she remarks, and Zuko wants to laugh before he realizes just how apt the word is.  _ Happy.  _

“Yes,” he says, pressing her closer to him, letting the sun rise upon this story he almost can’t comprehend until he sees the sparkle in her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the name is sorta random because I purposely left it vague in the other fic but now it's kazou because that fits the naming conventions, right? 'k' for water tribe (sokka, katara, hakoda, kya, kanna) and 'z' for fire nation (azula, zuko, ozai, sozin, azulon, kuzon)  
> I'm totally dumping on this fic but in the past month I've discovered atla I've written upwards of about seventy thousand words in fanfic, which isn't that much for seasoned writers but is crazy for me; for years I struggled to get to one thousand words for a story. this story is actually the three-hundredth one I've posted through my many accounts through the years, funny thing, fanfiction is amazing man


	4. Chapter 4

“Hold this.”

Zuko catches the spear awkwardly in one hand and stumbles back as Sokka thrusts another one up into his firmer grip before closing his chest and gesturing for him to walk outside again. He groans and adjusts his hold before venturing out into the ice, once again looking out longingly at his wife and son rolled up in their blankets.

Another hiss from his brother-in-law and he’s moving out, feeling the strange uncomfortable cold of the tundra pushing against his feet. Katara had made him get clothing meant for this weather made and the soles of his shoes are thick but he’s a firebender and he’s used to walking with military precision and firmness. To run across the snow and ice means having light footsteps. He nearly falls into a ditch as Sokka moves further out. “One —”

Zuko’s voice dies out as he sees Sokka look at him pointedly, and he quickly gets up and dusts off the snow, willing his body temperature to slightly decrease in order to ensure that he doesn’t melt the substance and then have it freeze to himself once again. He has newfound respect for Katara, for being able to do so well in foreign temperatures . . . that said, the Fire Nation’s humidity is far easier to deal with than this wasteland.  _ Not a wasteland,  _ he tells himself as they move further out. 

“What am I doing with this?” he questions after a moment of tugging himself along. His red furs are heavy on his body but he’s been able to catch up to Sokka, who’s looking ahead distinctively. 

“It’s a spear and you’re holding it wrong,” the other man chastises, wrenching it out of his hand and placing the wooden stick back in an upward position. It doesn’t fit into his hand quite right — he wants it to be placed in the same groove as his swords. 

“Are we going to kill something?”

“Of course. It’s a rite of passage —”

He doesn’t know how he feels about that and he’s about to complain that he’d brought plenty of food with him but this is a  _ rite of passage  _ and Sokka probably is testing him right now. Their relationship is slightly better but still wrought around the edges and he definitely can’t justify being petulant at the moment. His head pounds. “But — okay.”

“You can’t hunt, can you?”

They both stop in the middle of the ice. “We chase larger game in the Fire Nation — but we haven’t done it in a long time. I don’t — how do you even hunt, here?” All he can see around him is white. 

Sokka frowns. “There isn’t much here, I think — we’ll have to go fishing.”

Zuko just holds up his spear. He thinks the end is wilting. “We’re going to use spears to go fishing? I don’t think that’ll work. Katara is definitely better at this than I am.”

“She is,” Sokka says proudly. “The way she bends works well — she’s always been better at catching fish than I was, even though I don’t always want to admit it.”

“Do I have to —”

“No, you’re right,” the other man ruefully smiles. “You’re an accomplished bender, aren’t you? I suppose that’s proof enough that you can protect her.”  _ You killed your own father  _ lies there, but the undercurrent isn’t necessarily terrible. 

“I have swords, too. Dao swords.”

“I thought firebenders didn’t use nonbending styles —”

“I wasn’t an accomplished firebender when I was younger,” he says lowly, and after a second Sokka nods slowly. 

“I did manage to learn a bit while I was in the Fire Nation for your wedding. One of your former masters was there — I didn’t stay long enough for him to teach me but he said something cryptic and gave me a sword. I’ll admit that I’m more skilled in the ways of our tribe.”

“Understandable,” he lets out a slightly genial grin. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want to hand me another spear or axe unless you’d want me to cut one of your hands off.”

“We all have our talents,” Sokka gesticulates and they both start lugging their way back. “You’re not so terrible, Fire Lord.”

Zuko doesn’t know what he’s risking when he clasps the blue-clothed shoulder to his side. “Call me Zuko — I am your brother, after all.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Are you sure you should be up?” Zuko asks her as she settles down next to him, their breakfast laid out. His usual shyness is displaced by his worry for her — he can see her falling in front of him vividly. “My Lady, I . . .”

Katara smiles at him softly and sits down, reaching out for a piece of fruit. Her arms pause for a moment in midair, and he uses that second to grab it for her and place it in her hand. Their fingers touch for a brief second, and he draws back with a blush. 

“I’m fine,” she says, bringing the sticky object up to her mouth. Zuko stares at her, and the way she eats it, and the hazy and yet welcoming look in her eyes — the way that she is looking at him, like this. 

She has never stared at him so outright before. He reaches for his tea and moves the cup to his mouth, hoping in vain that the porcelain will hide the blush covering his cheeks. 

“I can’t help but be a little concerned,” he tells her when the silence blankets them once again. 

“I am a waterbender. And a healer. I can take quite a lot.”

“I’m sure you can,” he whispers, and some strange surge of confidence erupts out of nowhere. “I — would you like to accompany me to the docks, today evening?”

Katara raises her eyebrows at him, but she doesn’t seem accusatory. “I usually spend my evenings at the sea.”

“I know,” Zuko gulps. 

“So you’re asking if I would go with you?”

“I would like to spend some time with you,” he says quickly, almost uncharacteristically. When he glances up he sees her face again, and her beauty almost alarms him. That beauty, and grace, and her aura and her confidence and everything . . . this girl is too good for him, for the Fire Lord with blood on his hands. 

Her face straightens, and her lips turn down before straightening into a vivid smile. Her hair swipes her shoulders as she finishes the last piece of the mango she’s holding in her hand and looks at him with her face tilted. “That sounds like it would be fun.”

“It would?” he asks without thinking. 

“It would.”


End file.
